This invention relates to weaving machines for making triaxial fabrics in which warp strands are guided by heddles and the heddles are transferred from the leading end of one weftwise row of heddles moving laterally in one direction to the adjacent trailing end of another weftwise row of heddles moving laterally in the opposite direction. Such operations are disclosed in copending U.S. Pat. applications Ser. Nos. 603,756, filed Aug. 11, 1975, and 620,332, filed Oct. 7, 1975, both of which are owned in common with the present invention.
The heddles transferred to the trailing end of a weftwise row are received in a retracted shedding position, from which they are advanced to an extended shedding position. In doing so the heddle is moved from a retainer in the transfer mechanism into a passageway by the shedding mechanism. If the retainer and passageway are misaligned when the shedding mechanism tries to move the heddle to extended position, the heddle may be bent or broken, resulting in a jamming or other malfunction of the machine. Such misalignment may result from failure of a heddle to be delivered, incomplete retraction of a heddle shedding mechanism, incomplete motion by the transfer mechanism, improper synchronization of the shedding and transfer mechanisms, component failures, and the like. Due to the complexity of a triaxial weaving machine, removal and replacement of a broken heddle, or clearing of jammed machine components takes a long time and is to be avoided if at all possible.